I Can be Your Hero
by SlushieMeCarrie
Summary: A young Artie comes to Lucy Quinn's rescue. ONE-SHOT. Quartie as Kids Day for Quartie Week on Tumblr.


Eyes were fixated on her; the little blonde girl whom was just a year older and lived right down the road. There she was on her purple bicycle, wavy ponytail of gold blowing through the breeze as she passed by. Her name was Lucy, that much he knew. She would ride by that same time every afternoon, after getting home from pre-school. Despite the age difference, they were grouped in the same class. Sometimes she sat near him at lunch, but never as close as he wanted. All of the other six-year-old boys insisted that girls were gross and had cooties. But not Artie— at least, not _this_ girl. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. She was like a living Barbie doll, only bigger than his little sister's toy ones.

Artie noticed that she rode her bike by herself; a feat he hadn't yet been able to tackle. He hated the training wheels on his own, so most of the time he relied on foot. His parents took the time to teach him, but Artie would grow frustrated and run off to play something else. Lucy though, her parents weren't around that often to supervise her, it seemed - he thought she was really brave, but it also worried Artie. He seemed to be a natural protector, and was always afraid that one day she might fall.

One afternoon a couple of weeks later, it happened. The blonde was happily striding down the street when her bicycle caught on a rock, knocking her off the bike. Thankfully, Lucy managed to land in the grass along the curb, but it was still quite a fall. Artie had seen the entire thing and raced over as quickly as his little feet would allow him to. "Lucy! A-Are you okay…?" the young boy timidly asked as he fell to his knees, blue eyes raking in a nasty cut to her right knee.

Teary hazel orbs widened as they looked over at him; she half in shock over the accident and that he even knew her name. Sure, they were in class together, but she was with the older group and Artie never seemed to pay her any mind (to her knowledge). She knew of him though. Those bright, expressive eyes were hard to forget. "It hurts real bad," she sniffled, using the edge of her skirt to try and blot the little bit of blood that had leaked from her cut. "Ouch," she scolded under her breath, wishing she hadn't touched it at all. "Real bad, Artie. I don't think I wanna move." Her lower lip jutted; Lucy tried with all of her heart not to cry— it was taught as a weakness in the Fabray home.

"Just… stay right here," a mature young Artie directed, as he raced back home for a box of bandages.

"I told you - I'm not moving!" she hollered back haphazardly as she watched the boy run just around the corner to his place. Huffing, Quinn waited almost impatiently for his return, feeling like it'd been forever. Arms crossed in front of her chest, she raised an eyebrow as he knelt down beside her again, an over-sized first aid kit in his hands.

"What's that?" Lucy asked, glancing hesitantly at Artie.

"It's a first-aid kit. I'm in the scouts and working on a badge."

"So how much do you know?" the blonde asked, just as knowledgeable as he and well aware they were definitely the two know-it-alls in their class.

"I knooow…" Artie drawled, retrieving a bandage from the kit. "How to put on a band-aid."

"I know how to do that too, silly," she quipped, finally cracking a tiny smile. "That stuff's for babies."

"Oh yeahhh? Well, I know you put this stuff on a cut too," he held up a bottle of clear alcohol. "But my mommy says I'm not old enough yet."

"Well I'm a year older," Quinn nodded defiantly, then grabbed the bottle and poured some over her wound. She didn't expect what was coming. "_Owww_," the blonde hissed, her eyes brimming with tears again. "It hurts _so_ bad Smartie," she whimpered, realizing her secret nickname for him had slipped. Quinn had them for everyone in school, but it was just supposed to be something she said in her head.

"My name's Artie," he corrected, still somewhat struggling with retrieving the band-aid from wrapper.

"I know, but you're the smartest in our whooole class. Even smarter than me and all the older kids," Lucy babbled, a giggle escaping as she watched him struggle. "And it rhymes."

Artie felt sort of special that she'd even given him a nickname at all— not to mention, a special one. "Well duh," he replied matter-of-factly, blue eyes twinkling back at her as he finally finished with the covering. Gently, Artie pulled the little girl's leg closer, leaning down to very carefully blow on the spot.

"What are you _doing?_" Lucy asked incredulously, the expression on her face appearing as if he had three heads.

"That's what my mommy always does when I have a boo-boo," Artie explained, before gingerly placing the bandage over her cut. "There, good as new."

The blonde smiled up at him, her hurt leg slightly tangled with his. "I think you earned your badge for that," she pointed out, a hand reaching to delicately pat his shoulder.

"Nah, I don't care about the badge," he shrugged casually - attempting to hide the slight blush that crept up his boyish cheeks. "Just sort of wanted to be the hero for once." He decided to leave out the fact that _she_ was the one he really wanted to rescue.

"Hmm. Well… I _guess_ you're my hero," she brightly assured, eyes shining back at him vibrantly.

"Do I get a prize?"

Lucy tapped her chin thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yeah, you get a prize."

"Like what?" Artie asked excitedly, almost surprised she'd actually agreed. "A kiss?" The last thought was meant to _stay_ a thought, and now Artie was as red as the cut on her leg.

"I was thinking more like cookies and milk. My mom buys Oreos— they're the best." She snickered, own cheeks now flushing at his wish.

"Alright, I'm down," Artie replied with a soft smile as he pushed himself up from the grass. Extending a gentle hand, he took Lucy's carefully, helping her up.

"Aren't you going to carry me?" she asked expectantly, hazel eyes flickering to him again.

"What?"

"Heroes always carry their princess," Lucy pointed out.

"That's in fairy-tales," he countered.

"But my mommy says I'm a princess."

Artie gave a roll of sapphire eyes, then tried his best to lift the girl on his back piggy style - keeping it to himself that he wasn't much bigger than she. "You know, I'm not sure this is worth all the Oreos in the world," Artie grunted, struggling to carry them along the road. It was a good thing he didn't have to go that far.

"Fine. You can have a kiss too," she spouted, arms tightly wrapped around the boy's neck.

"Not a Hershey's either— don't play me," he mumbled, smiling as he felt tiny arms around him.

"No, a real one, I promise. As soon as we get back to my castle."

That day, Artie received his first kiss, and Lucy gave hers.


End file.
